Photo of Bruce

Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1949

Bruce Connew is an artist and photographer.

He lives in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, and sometimes Paris.

Apart from an early skirmish with the Guildford School of Art, West Surrey College of Art and Design, Bruce is an autodidact.

His central projects have shown as solo exhibitions in most public art galleries in Aotearoa New Zealand.

A number of these projects are published as artist books and variations on the photobook. Since I Saw You (2007), his artist books have reflected a protracted review of his practice. A Vocabulary (2021), folded eggs (2018) and Body of Work (2015) acknowledge this ongoing review.

‘My work does not come from orderly research. An idea emerges from an assortment of simmering propositions, components of things yet to be fashioned. With these elements in hand, I set off in pursuit of other evidence from which to construct meaning.’

His work, both prints and artist books, is in public and private collections in Aotearoa New Zealand and elsewhere.


bruce@bruceconnew.com

@bruceconnew | Instagram

@vapourmomentabooks | Instagram

 

{Suite} Gallery,
241 Cuba Street
Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington 6011
Aotearoa New Zealand
info@suite.co.nz

  • 2024–2024 · A Vocabulary selection, {Suite} Gallery, Ponsonby, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • 2023–2023 · A Vocabulary, National Army Museum Te Mata Toa, Waiouru
  • 2023–2023 · A Vocabulary selection, {Suite} Gallery, Cuba Street, Te Whanganui-a-Tara
  • 2022–2023 · A Vocabulary, MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri, Ahuriri Napier
  • 2022–2022 · A Vocabulary, Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi, Waitangi Treaty Grounds
  • 2021–2022 · A Vocabulary, Toi Tauranga Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga
  • 2020–2021 · A Vocabulary, Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • 2019 · ‘folded eggs’ artefacts, Suite Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2018 · Body of Work / I Saw You, Suite Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2013 · Censored, Examined, Exploited, Suite Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2012 · Stopover, Two Rooms Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • 2011 · I Drive You Crazy, to the Moon, Suite Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2011 · Karma Police and The Way We Live Now Suite Pop-Up Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2009 · I Must Behave, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Ngāmotu New Plymouth
  • 2009 · Censored triptych, Mary Newton Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2009 · I Must Behave Mary Newton Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2008 · Stopover, Toi Tauranga Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga
  • 2008 · On the way to an ambush, War Photo Limited, Dubrovnik, Croatia
  • 2007 · Stopover, Pātaka Art + Museum, Porirua
  • 2007 · I Saw You, Mary Newton Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2004–2005 · Muttonbirds - part of a story, McNamara Gallery, Whanganui; Lopdell House Gallery (Te Uru Waitākere Gallery), Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland; Hirschfeld Gallery, City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2002–2003 · Press Escape to Cancel, Te Tuhi, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland; Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa, Rotorua; Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, Whanganui
  • 1998 · On the way to an ambush, performance/projection, Foundings Theatre, Te Papa Tongarewa, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 1995–1997 · Suburbs, Dowse Art Museum, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington; Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, Whanganui; Manawatu Art Gallery Te Manawa, Te Papaioea Palmerston North; Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa, Rotorua
  • 1988–1990 · Beyond the Pale, Dowse Art Museum, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington; Toi Tāmaki Auckland Art Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland; various venues, Buller/Westland
  • 1986 · Kanaky, tour of New Zealand universities
  • 1986–1987 · South Africa, National Art Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington; Hastings City Cultural Centre, Heretaunga Hastings; Fisher Gallery (TeTuhi), Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland; Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Ōtautahi Christchurch; Govett-Brewster Gallery, Ngāmotu New Plymouth; Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, Whanganui
  • 1980 · Portfolio 1976-1980, PhotoForum Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2019 · ‘Future of Work’, curated by Melanie Oliver, with Liz Allan, Berwick Street Collective, Bruce Connew, Peter Wareing Harun Farocki, Kauri Hawkins, Fiona Jack, Darcy Lange, Elisabeth Pointon, Public Share, Deborah Rundle, Allan Sekula & Noël Burch, John Vea, Dowse Art Museum, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
  • 2019 · 2019 · ‘Ways of Seeing’, curated by Sian van Dyk, with Glenn Jowitt, Rebecca Swan, Ngahuia Harrison, Mark Adams, Andrew Ross, Bruce Connew, The Dowse Art Museum, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
  • 2018 · 2018 · Performing Books: Surveillance Index, 100 photobooks related to surveillance photography (includes ‘I Saw You’) curated by New Yorker Mark Ghuneim, Le Bal gallery, Paris
  • 2016 · ‘Body of Work’ book, Show, curated by Ed Hanfling, with others, Ramp Gallery, Wintec, Kirikiriroa Hamilton
  • 2016 · Disenchanted Prophets Matakite Matekiri, Photography as Living Protest, curated by Nina Sejar, with Mark Adams, Bruce Connew, Gil Hanly, John Miller, Ans Westra, Te Kōngahu, Museum of Waitangi
  • 2014 · History in the Taking: 40 Years of PhotoForum, curated by Nina Sejar and Geoffrey H. Short, Gus Fisher Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 2014 · I Saw You (Re:Vision), Trish Clark Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • 2013 · Recent Auckland Photography, Northart, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • 2010 · I Must Behave selection, RCA Secret 2010, London
  • 2008 · Censored triptych, Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Awards, Kirikiriroa Hamilton
  • 2008 · I Saw You selection RCA Secret 2008, London
  • 2007 · Moving Still, Gus Fisher Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • 2006 · Birds – The Art of NZ Birdlife Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua; Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, Whanganui
  • 2006 · Return of the Hand, Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, Whanganui
  • 2006–2007 · Wonder-land Fotografia Festival Internazionale di Roma, Rome; Pingyao International Photography Festival, China; Auckland Festival AK07
  • 2005 · Stopover screened, Visa Pour l’Image photography festival, Perpignan, France
  • 2005 · Symbols of Sovereignty, Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua
  • 2005 · Pacific Light, Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua
  • 2005–2006 · Verbatim National Library Gallery Te Puna Matauranga, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington; Lopdell House Gallery (Te Uru Waitākere Gallery), Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • 2003 · The Caravan, Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua
  • 2003–2006 · My Place COCA, Ōtautahi Christchurch; Fringe Festival, Adelaide
  • 1998 · 747X10, Archill Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • 1990 · Art and Organised Labour, City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
  • 1988 · From Pillar to Post, Real Pictures Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • 1976 · A Loss of Values, PhotoForum group show, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
  • 2021 · A Vocabulary , Vapour Momenta Books
  • 2018 · ‘folded eggs’, Vapour Momenta Books
  • 2015 · Body of Work, Vapour Momenta Books
  • 2009 · I Must Behave, Vapour Momenta Books
  • 2009 · Censored, GRANTA 105, Spring 2009
  • 2007 · I Saw You, Vapour Momenta Books
  • 2007 · Stopover, Victoria University Press and University of Hawai’i Press
  • 2004 · Muttonbirds—part of a story, Vapour Momenta Books
  • 2000 · Press Escape to Cancel, SPORT 24, Fergus Barrowman
  • 1999 · On the way to an ambush, Victoria University Press
  • 1995 · Suburbs, self-published catalogue
  • 1987 · South Africa, Hodder & Stoughton
  • 2016 · ‘Surveillance Index’, 100 photobooks related to surveillance photography (includes ‘I Saw You’) collected by New Yorker Mark Ghuneim, designed by Studio Lin, exhibited at Le Bal gallery, Paris
  • 2015 · New Zealand Photography Collected, Athol McCredie, Te Papa Press
  • 2014 · PhotoForum at 40, Counterculture, Clusters, and Debate in New Zealand, Nina Sejar, Rim Books
  • 2013 · Recent Auckland Photography, PhotoForum
  • 2006 · Into the Light, a History of New Zealand Photography, Craig Potton Publishing
  • 2005 · My Place, Glenn Busch and Bruce Connew, et al, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury
  • 1998 · A Century of Images, Te Papa Press
  • 1993 · New Zealand Photography from the 1840s to the Present, PhotoForum
  • 1981 · By Batons and Barbed Wire, Real Pictures
  • 1981 · The Tour, Athol McCredie/Lothians
  • 2022 · ‘A Vocabulary’ signing, Les Rencontres d’Arles photography festival, Arles, France
  • 2021 · ‘A Vocabulary’ review, Ewan Morris, Past Word blog, Aotearoa New Zealand
  • 2021 · PhotoForum online ZOOM interview with Andy Spain (https://www.photoforum-nz.org/blog/2021/3/7/bruce-connew-zoom-interview)
  • 2021 · ‘A Vocabulary’ review, John Hurrell, Eye Contact blog, Aotearoa New Zealand
  • 2021 · ‘A Vocabulary’ review, Paul Diamond, RNZ, National Programme, Nine to Noon, Aotearoa New Zealand
  • 2020 · ‘A Vocabulary’, Kim Hill, Radio New Zealand, a podcast
  • 2019 · Documenting Histories panel discussion with Sophia Powers, Dieneke Jansen and Bruce Connew, Becky Nunes (chair), Anita Tótha (convener), Webb’s Auction House, Auckland Art Fair 2019, 3 May 2019
  • 2019 · ‘Ways of Being’, a response to Deidra Sullivan's review, writings & reviews, Bruce Connew website, Aotearoa New Zealand
  • 2019 · ‘Ways of Being’, PhotoForum NZ blog, Deidra Sullivan, Aotearoa New Zealand
  • 2018–2018 · ‘folded eggs’, poem, Felisa Cereceda Parra
  • 2017 · ‘Body of Work’, Jenny Harper, Allure and discomfort, Art Monthly Australasia 216, Sydney
  • 2017 · ‘I Saw You’, Surveillance Index, Mark Ghuneim, New York
  • 2016 · ‘Body of Work’, Daniel Boetker-Smith, photo-eye, Book of the Week, USA
  • 2016 · ‘Body of Work’, Christophe Le Toquin, How to start talking about this book, Christer Ek blog, France
  • 2016 · ‘Body of Work’, Brad Feuerhelm, Pascal Invented Horse Porn from the Void, American Suburb X, UK
  • 2016 · ‘Body of Work’, Colin Pantall, Neat, Tidy and Organised?, Colin Pantall blog, UK
  • 2016 · ‘Body of Work’, John L. Walters, Books received #20, eye magazine blog, UK
  • 2016 · ‘Body of Work’, Josef Chladek Best 2015 list, Austria
  • 2015 · ‘Body of Work’, The body politic, interview with Virginia Were, Art News NZ, vol 35, no 4
  • 2015 · PhotoBook Melbourne website interview with Alice Connew and Bruce Connew, daughter / father
  • 2014 · ‘I Must Behave’, Pictures They Want to Make, Ed Hanfling/Chris Corson-Scott, NZ
  • 2012 · Auckland Festival of Photography, symposium speaker
  • 2011 · I Drive You Crazy, to the Moon, essay, Dr Barbara Garrie, Bruce Connew website, NZ
  • 2010 · ‘I Must Behave’, Marcel Tromp, Unsettling Images, Landfall 219, NZ
  • 2009 · ‘Censored’, ‘I Must Behave’ in PhotoHistories and more, Saturday Morning, Kim Hill, Radio New Zealand
  • 2009 · ‘Censored’, GRANTA 105, Lost and Found, Spring 2009, UK
  • 2009 · ‘I Must Behave’, ‘Photo HiStories’, Visual Archives, Deidra Sullivan, PhotoForum, NZ
  • 2009 · A conversation with Mary-Jane Duffy, Bruce Connew website, NZ
  • 2008 · Unguarded Moments, Michael Fitzgerald, EDIT 45, Germany
  • 2008 · ‘Stopover’, Asha Chand, ‘Aether’, CSU, Northridge, USA
  • 2008 · ‘I Saw You’ / ‘Stopover’, Michael Fitzgerald, EDIT 45, Germany
  • 2007 · ‘Stopover’, Cutting Out, Elizabeth Keenan, TIME magazine
  • 2007 · Witness to a Migration, Finlay Macdonald, Sunday Star Times, NZ
  • 2007 · The Gentle Observer, Kelly Andrew, Dominion Post, NZ
  • 2007 · ‘Stopover’, book introduction, Fiji/NZ
  • 2005 · ‘Muttonbirds—part of a story’, Of Flight and Death, Michael Fitzgerald, TIME magazine
  • 2005 · ‘Muttonbirds—part of a story’, Dug In, Dug Out, Gregory O'Brien, City Gallery Wellington, NZ
  • 2004 · ‘Muttonbirds—part of a story’, book introduction and Bruce Connew oral history with Dean Tiemi Te Au, NZ
  • 2003 · Finding the Bodies, Peter Ireland, PhotoForum 69, NZ
  • 2003 · Street Wise, Virginia Were, Art News, NZ
  • 2000 · ‘Press Escape to Cancel’, essay of photographs and writing, Sport 24, NZ
  • 1999 · ‘On the way to an ambush’, Justin Paton, Landfall 198, NZ
  • 1999 · The Waters of Life, essay, Aparna Sen, Brian Brake’s ‘monsoon girl’, NZ Listener
  • 1999 · ‘On the way to an ambush’, book blurb, Peter Turner, NZ
  • 1999 · ‘On the way to an ambush’, book text, Bruce Connew, NZ
  • 1998 · ‘On the way to an ambush’, Saturday Morning, Kim Hill, Radio New Zealand
  • 1995 · ‘Suburbs’, exhibition catalogue essay, Bruce Connew, NZ
  • 1988 · ‘Beyond the Pale’, Coalface Close Up, Bruce Connew, NZ Listener
  • 1987 · ‘South Africa’, Riemke Ensing, Art New Zealand 44
  • 1987 · ‘South Africa’, book introduction, Nomzamo Winnie Mandela, South Africa
  • 1987 · ‘South Africa’, book text, Vernon Wright, NZ
  • 1986 · Withering Contempt, John B Turner, Creative Camera, UK
  • 1986 · Zealot Who Melds Film and Feeling, Linda Clark, New Zealand Times
  • 1986 · View Through a Passionate Eye, Michael Kopp, Dominion, NZ
  • 1986 · Seeing With the Camera, Ian Wedde, Evening Post, NZ
  • 1986 · ‘South Africa’, Soweto and Winnie Mandela, Bruce Connew/Vernon Wright, NZ Woman’s Weekly
  • 1985 · ‘Kanaky’, The Waiting War, Vernon Wright, NZ Listener
  • 2008 · On the way to an ambush slideshow/narration, Bruce Connew, DVD (repeat of 1998 performance at Te Papa Tongarewa, during New Zealand Festival of Photography)
  • 2007 · I Saw You, 8-minute short film on surveillance, Catherine Griffiths/Bruce Connew, DVD
  • 2002 · Visible Evidence, eight photographers, Leon Narbey, produced by Trevor Haysom (shown Television New Zealand)
  • 1987 · South Africa in Black and White, 12-minute documentary using Bruce Connew’s South Africa images, Tom McWilliams/Terry O’Connor (shown New Zealand International Film Festival, Auckland and Wellington)
  • 1986 · Kaleidoscope, 17-minute documentary on Bruce Connew’s photography, Howard Taylor (shown Television New Zealand)
  • 1985 · Kaleidoscope, included in documentary on Brian Brake’s Focus on New Zealand (shown Television New Zealand)
  • Tate, London, artist book
  • National Gallery of Australia, three complete series, Kanaky 1984; Stopover 2007; Censored 2009
  • Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, prints and artist books
  • Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, artist books
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art Special Collection Library, New York, artist books
  • Special Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, artist books
  • Christchurch Art Gallery, Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Aotearoa New Zealand, prints
  • Dowse Art Museum, Aotearoa New Zealand, two complete series, Beyond the Pale 1981 and 1986; Suburbs 1994
  • Sarjeant Gallery, Te Whare o Rehua, Aotearoa New Zealand, prints
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Manatu Aorere, Aotearoa New Zealand, prints
  • Private collections, prints and artist books